1. William Shakespeare

2. Content Shakespeare‘s Life Shakespeare‘s Work Early Years
plays and poems
Youth
Top 5 Plays
Marriage
Facts
Family
Lost Years
Later Years

3. Early years Baptized 26 April, 1564 Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Seven siblings
Father: John Shakespeare
Glover
Upper class roots
Mother: Mary Arden
Catholic
Inherited the house

4. Youth Good education at grammar school No college education (no hints)
Focus on literature, poetry and history
No college education (no hints)
No further informations about his childhood and youth

5. Marriage Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 Born in 1556 (day is unknown)
Pregnant at the time
She was 26 years old
He was only 18
Born in 1556 (day is unknown)
Died 6 August, 1623
Clues for unhappy marriage
Moved to London without her
Does not benefit from testament

6. Family First daughter: Susanna (*1583) Twins (*1585):
Favorite daughter
Married Dr. John Hall (military doctor)
Twins (*1585):
Judith
Hamnet (died: 1596)

7. Lost Years
The period between 1585 and 1592 is known as the „Lost Years“ because there are no documentary records of Shakespeare‘s activities

8. Later years Moved to London (1591)
Worked as an actor and playwright (Globe Theatre)
At the age of 46 he moved back to Stratford
Rich man
Visited family and friends in London
Died at the age of 52 in Stratford
Exact date and reason unknown
Speculation: died of a fever caused by drinking

9. Shakespeare‘s work Comedy History Tragedy Poetry
The Merchant of Venice
A midsummer Night‘s Dream
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
Winter‘s Tale
Henry IV (1-3)
King John
Richard II
Hamlet
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
Julius Caesar
The Sonnets
The Lover‘s Complaint

10. Top 5 Plays Hamlet (as well as his longest play) Macbeth Julius Caesar
The Tempest
1 Henry IV
...
Romeo and Juliet

11. Facts 37 plays 154 sonnets Most successful plays are tragedies
Still successful in other genres (history, comedy)
Most written plays are comedies
The Comedy of Errors was his shortest play
his plays have inspired modern movies (The Lion King by Hamlet)

12. Source: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/topplays.html